Children's Rhymes, Children's Games, Children's Songs, Children's Stories Part 10

_Question._--What will it take to build it up?

(With repeats.)

_Answer._--Needles and preens will build it up.

_Question._--Needles and preens will rust and bend.

_Answer._--Silver and gold will build it up.

_Question._--Silver and gold will be stolen away.

_Answer._--Build it up with penny loaves.

_Question._--Penny loaves will tumble down.

_Answer._--Bricks and mortar will build it up.

_Question._--Bricks and mortar will wash away.

_Answer._--We will set a dog to bark.

_Question._--Here's a prisoner we have got.

At the words "a prisoner," the two forming the arch apprehend the pa.s.sing one in the line, and, holding her fast, the dialogue resumes:--

_Answer._--Here's a prisoner we have got.

_Question._--What's the prisoner done to you?

_Answer._--Stole my watch and broke my chain.

_Question._--What will you take to set him free?

_Answer._--A hundred pounds will set him free.

_Question._--A hundred pounds I have not got.

_Answer._--Then off to prison you must go.

Following this declaration, the prisoner is led a distance away from the rest by her jailers, where the questions are put to her, whether she will choose "a gold watch," or "a diamond necklace." As she decides she goes to the one side or the other. When, in like manner, all in the line have chosen, a tug-of-war ensues, and the game is ended.

"~The Jolly Miller.~"--In this the players take partners--all except the miller, who takes his stand in the middle, while his companions walk round him in couples, singing:--

There was a jolly miller, who lived by himself, As the wheel went round he made his wealth; One hand in the hopper, and the other in the bag, As the wheel went round he made his grab.

At the word "grab," every one must change partners. The miller then has the opportunity of seizing one: and if he succeeds in so doing, the one necessarily left alone must take his place, and so on.

"~Willie Wastle~" is essentially a boy's game. One standing on a hillock or large boulder, from which he defies the efforts of his companions to dislodge him, exclaims, by way of challenge:--

I, Willie Wastle, Stand on my castle, And a' the dogs o' your toun, Will no ding Willie Wastle doun.

The boy who succeeds in dislodging him takes his place, and so on.

"~Oats and Beans and Barley~," a simple but pretty game, is played all over England, as well as in most parts of Scotland, with varying rhymes.

In Perths.h.i.+re the lines run:--

Oats and beans and barley grows, Oats and beans and barley grows; But you nor I nor n.o.body knows How oats and beans and barley grows.

First the farmer sows his seeds, Then he stands and takes his ease; Stamps his feet, and claps his hands, Then turns around to view his lands.

Waiting for a partner, Waiting for a partner; Open the ring and take one in, And kiss her in the centre.

The players form a ring by joining hands. One child--usually a boy--stands in the middle. The ring moving round, sing the first four lines. These completed, the ring stands, and still singing, each player gives suitable action to the succeeding words; showing how the "farmer sows his seeds," and how he "stands and takes his ease," etc. At the tenth line all wheel round. They then re-join hands, still singing, and at the words, "Open the ring and take one in," the child in the middle chooses from the ring a partner (a girl, of course), whom he leads to the centre and kisses as requested. The two stand there together, while the ring, moving again, sing the marriage formula:--

Now you're married, you must obey, Must be true to all you say; You must be kind, you must be good, And help your wife to chop the wood.

"~Hornie Holes~" is a boys' game in which four play, a princ.i.p.al and a.s.sistant on either side. A stands with his a.s.sistant at one hole, and throws what is called a "cat" (a piece of stick, or a sheep's horn), with the design of making it alight into another hole at some distance, at which B stands, with his a.s.sistant, to drive it aside with his rod resembling a walking-stick. The following unintelligible rhyme is repeated by a player on the one side, while they on the other are gathering in the "cats." This is attested by old people as of great antiquity:--

Jock, Speak, and Sandy, Wi' a' their lousie train, Round about by Edinbro', Will never meet again.

Gae head 'im, gae hang 'im, Gae lay him in the sea; A' the birds o' the air Will bear 'im companie.

With a nig-nag, widdy--(or worry) bag, And an e'endown trail, trail, Quo' he.

~The Craw~ admits of a good deal of lively exercise, involving, as Dr.

Chambers remarks, no more than a reasonable portion of violence. One boy is selected to be craw. He sits down upon the ground, and he and another boy then lay hold of the two ends of a long strap or twisted handkerchief. The latter also takes into his right hand another hard-twisted handkerchief, called the _Cout_, and runs round the craw, and with the cout defends him against the attack of the other boys, who, with similar couts, use all their agility to get a slap at the craw.

But, before beginning, the guard of the craw must cry out:--

Ane, twa, three--my craw's free.

And the first whom he strikes becomes craw, the former craw then becoming guard. When the guard wants respite, he must cry:--

Ane, twa, three--my craw's no free.

"~Neevie-neevie-nick-nack.~"--A lottery game, and confined to boys, is of simple movement, but convenient in this--that only two players are required. They stand facing each other, the leader whirling his two closed fists, one containing a prize, the other empty, while he cajoles his opponent with the rhyme--

Neevie-neevie-nick-nack, Whilk hand will ye tak'-- The richt are or the wrang, I'll beguile ye gin I can?

If he guesses correctly, he gains the prize. If he misses, he has to equal the stake. Until success falls to the second, the original player continues the lead.